Turning Tides
by theonewiththestarlighteyes
Summary: A hundred years can make you tired of anything. Lancelot kind of thing with a twist!
1. Be Our Guests

_So, anyway, I am turning over a new leaf, no more petty fan fictions that are just dreams of mine! Time to write like I mean it!_

Sarah groaned and opened her eyes. It was five in the morning. She swung her feet over onto the cold hard floor. Jareth was still asleep. Normally, she would have kissed her King's forehead before raiding the store room, but today was different. She was tired of it all. She was tired of the Goblins, tired of having to listen to Jareth sing, tired of being his Queen, a queen with no power. She sneaked down to the kitchen, grabbing a pastry and some jam. She went out into the garden. No one was up yet; the sun was coming up in the underground. She found comfort in the sun, just knowing there was something of importance besides Jareth in her life.

Jareth awoke to an empty bed, as he did most days now. He knew his Queen longed for a more purposeful existence, but greater purpose was there than to be his lover? He thought back to last night, she wasn't enthusiastic as she usually was. He worried momentarily if he was losing her, but the petty qualms soon vanished. Sarah couldn't leave the Labyrinth, if she tried, she would turn to dust. She had been here too long, one hundred years if Jareth was correct. It was Jareth's power alone that sustained her youth and beauty, one foot above ground and she was ancient history. He smiled to himself. The foolish girl didn't even know. He rolled over and went back to sleep.

Sarah crept back into bed at eleven, knowing he didn't wake up until at least two. He didn't start "Being King" until four. She slipped in beside him. Suddenly her partner reached around and grabbed her waist forcefully. She screamed in terror.

"Calm down Sarah! It's only me!"

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. The one hundred years had still not accustomed her to the Goblin King's wiles. She faked a smile as the quirky king kissed her on the cheek. No matter how weird he was, he still loved her. She got up and dressed for the job. She was expected to be mingling and looking pretty by twelve. She pinned, prodded, sprayed and frizzled her poor hair. Jareth lay there watching her with loving eyes. She couldn't stand to watch him, loving her, while she was discontented. She quickly kissed him on the forehead and rushed downstairs to the throne room.

She swerved around the corner, knowing she was late. She was to attend to the angry females over some "Suffrage" and "rights" issue. She slammed into something, something hard. She looked up, thinking it was some troll mother coming to complain, boy was she wrong. It was the darkest man she had ever seen. He was tall, his black hair was long, and his eyes were the color of an oubliette. He was quite handsome. She blushed as he smiled at her with perfectly straight teeth. "Hello there."

She could feel her face becoming as red as a strawberry. "Hey yourself."

His black lips forced themselves into a more formal gesture. "Excuse me Madame. My name is David Defuego, I am Jareth's cousin twice removed. I have come to see my favorite cousin, and I assume you are his queen Sarah?"

"Oh, OH! Yes sir!" She made a quick curtsey and cast her eyes downward. Women were not to address nobility with such casualty even if the woman was the queen. "Well, his grace will be down in a minute. He is awakening, my lord."

He nodded and shifted his weight foot to foot. A woman entered and he smiled and took the lady by the arm. "Well, Queen Sarah, I would love to introduce my lovely wife, Maria."

Sarah eyed the new comer with jealousy. The Spanish beauty leaned on her husband's arm, looking at Sarah coolly through chocolate brown eyes. Sarah was filled with disgust and immediate dislike. "Well, you certainly lucked out didn't you Defuego?" Maria whispered something in Spanish to David. He nodded and laughed. Sarah forced a smile and continued. "Jareth shall be down in a minute. I will send a servant to get him ready. Until then, can I interest you in a meal?"

By the time Jareth came down to greet them, David had already eaten his whole meal. Sarah didn't eat. She glared at Maria, getting to know her and her habits. Maria was always ready to attend to her husband; she seemed to laugh silently behind her wondrous eyes every time she looked at Sarah. She had the hourglass figure Sarah had always strived for. She was short and petite, but at the same time looked tall and formidable when she looked at someone. Her eyes almost never left Sarah, the younger, more naive girl could feel the woman's disapproval. 'What is it to me? I don't care what she thinks!' She thought defiantly to herself. When Jareth came down, Sarah was on the verge of tears.

"Well, David, Maria! It's been such a long time! How have you been enjoying my wife's hospitality?"

David enveloped the smaller man in a huge embrace. "Dear cousin, she has been wonderful! How have you been? Has the married life got ya down yet?" Jareth came out grimacing and rubbing his ribs. The old pals talked a while, leaving Maria and Sarah alone.

Maria waved at Jareth's tiny figure. "What is that scrawny thing like in bed?"

Sarah couldn't even look at the woman out of mortification. To say such a thing and not even know a person! The shame of it!

Maria pushed through. "Oh dear, I am just kidding. You will learn to be frank after five hundred years of marriage."

"Five hundred years!" Sarah choked on her own amazement. How could someone live that long? Forget being married that long!

"Dear don't you know? Time runs different in the… Oh well, never mind that. So tell me about the suffrage movement, I am all for it and I want to see it through."

Sarah stuttered through the entire conversation. She silently pleaded to Jareth to come to her rescue. She could feel the fey woman taunting her, baiting her into little episodes of foolishness. Finally Jareth, like a knight in shining armor, saved her from the awkward conversation. "Well, I am sorry for making my dear wifey leave, but she has a meeting to attend." Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. Finally she was getting away from that dreadful woman! Then, as suddenly as he had given her hope, her husband dashed it upon the rocks. "Say, you are a woman Maria, why don't you go with her?"

Maria looked triumphantly at Sarah, knowing the queen's discomfort. "Why, yes, I would love to!"


	2. The Puppet Queen

_Well, what do you think? Feel free to review or pm me!_

Sarah huffed and puffed and wanted to blow the house down. Maria was going with her! Was she cursed? She looked behind her; the tiny, aggravating woman was trailing behind her. Sarah lifted her skirts and hurried onto the balcony. She could hear the males complaining in their grunting, single syllable worded sentences. The females had gathered in the courtyard, their cries for 'justice' and 'fairness' were heard for miles around. Sarah pushed her frazzled hair out of her eyes and stepped out in front of her angry subjects.

"She-goblins, Troll mothers, fairies, sprites, I have come to answer your cries for help!" She said it with as much emotion as she could muster. Jareth had written and edited the speech into perfection. Sarah had said it a thousand times to get ready for her first lone public appearance since the coronation. She didn't have to be a genius to know she sounded bland and dull. She fought for their attention and plunged into the second paragraph. "For too long have the males oppressed you, told you to stay home, let you do all the work while they were out drinking!" The females cheered halfheartedly. They doubted her sincerity. She was the queen, what did she know of pain and suppression? The squalling babies were shifted from hip to hip, laughs and sneers issued out of their foul, brown mouths. Soon, while Sarah was talking about 'the evils of men throughout history' all out boos were heard. The crowd laughed at the queen, Sarah started to cry. She couldn't help she was no good. She barely got the part in the first grade play, how was she supposed to win over a bunch of critical goblins? She leaned her head down on the railing, sobbing, then, she looked up to see Maria stepping in front of her. The woman held her hands up to silence the crowd of extremists.

Immediately anyone in the castle could have heard a pin drop, not that the mischievous pin would have dared to, Maria was that commanding. "Do not jeer at our fellow woman. Who has been more oppressed than she? When do you see her? The poor creature is locked up in the castle, a beautiful prison but one none the less, forced to stay there by a king that does not believe in our cause! His Grace," Sarcasm dripped sickly sweet off her words. It had the wanted effect. "would not even come out to greet you! Are we worthless to him? Our husbands spend their time drinking with him all day! Are we that unimportant! I say we are not! I know we could create a world that was perfect!" Her powerful voice rolled over them. Every single person in the mass of bodies was cheering. Sarah looked at her in anger and shock. How dare she talk about Jareth that way? It was inconceivable! Simply inconceivable! She glared at the woman. How dare she take her place in the minds of the females? The next thought that popped up in Sarah's poor, misguided head was, am I really that weak?

Maria looked at her triumphantly. Screams of "The warrior Maria, she is the mother of our cause, our light towards salvation" were heard from the crowd. Sarah fled through the curtains back into the castle. Maria basked in the praise. She was a natural leader, built to rile people with passion and in the next moment put them back into submission with a glance. Sarah was no match for her and she knew it. Maria gazed across the loud, monstrous mass of goblin flesh. It didn't appeal to her any more than a pile of rotten fish would, but she had to appear sincere. Her acting skills were flawless. She was meant to be the queen of these creatures. She had the power, the will; all she needed was the title.

Sarah ran crying to Jareth. He took her in his arms with a quiet "Shhhhh… what is the matter?"

She sobbed into his neck. David, who had been talking to Jareth about the human soccer leagues, was put into an awfully awkward situation. "Ah, I will be over there if you need me Jareth!"

Sarah didn't notice the scene she was making, everyone in the room, servants, guests, drunken subjects, everybody, was staring at her. "I, I, I, I failed!" She squalled and started hiccupping like a baby. "I couldn't, huh! Do it! Huh! The stupid goblins started booing me!" She looked up to see Maria looking coolly at her with laughter in her eyes. The embarrassed queen became furious. "And you! Putting me down in front of them! Making me seem like I was on their level! How dare you show me up?" The goblin servants knew what she was going to say. It was her catch phrase, what she always resorted to. "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Jareth rolled his eyes and took her again into his arms. "Senora Defuego, I am so, so sorry. She is just a little tired, frustrated, and put out from her speech. She will apologize for her childish behavior when she is feeling well again." The King jerked his queen up onto her feet and dragged her up the staircase into their bed room. He threw her onto the bed and slammed the door behind him. "What the h*** was that? Are you still that frightened girl in the labyrinth? Is being a queen a piece of cake? You can't even handle a bunch of screaming snot nosed goblin girls! When I asked you to be mine, I thought you knew that it entailed being queen!"

The Sarah who had defied him over a long forgotten baby boy rose up in her again. "I can't help it! And no, I didn't know. You don't work at being King, you just sit around getting drunk with the slobbering fools you call subjects!"

Jareth stared at the wall. He knew if he turned around he would hit her, he was that angry. "That is what they expect me to do. That is enough of a king for them. I asked you to be the queen the females wanted you to be, now I see that that is not within your power. I might be able to forgive that, but don't think that blaming the whole thing on Maria will get you out of it. How could you? Do you know how this is reflecting back on me? Do you?" His voice was steady, he was trying to hold back, the man was still trying to protect the Sarah he loved so much.

Sarah cried on the bed. After several minutes she finally looked up and wiped her eyes. "I don't care. If you want a queen, just let Maria do it, since she is so much better at it than me." She was going for sarcasm, but it just came out sounding like a child's whines.

Jareth put a hand over his eyes. How could such a 'smart' girl be so stupid? She had gone nowhere in the last hundred years. It was his fault, but still, you would think she would have come a long way from the girl who couldn't take her eyes off of his crystal ball. "Sarah that is exactly what I am going to do. Your title will remain, but Maria will be doing appearances and speeches. She is to be my advisor."

"Wh, what? You can't do that to me! I am the queen!" Her shock was apparent. "It's not fair!"

"You asked me to do it, and what's said is said," He paused, almost enjoying her hurt expression as he again twisted her words against her. "even if you didn't mean it." He went to her on the bed, he grabbed her hand and rubbed it with his gloved palm. "Why do you think I summoned them here? The Defuegos are to be our advisors; just in this case, Maria's station will be a little more extreme."

Sarah snatched her hand away and looked out the window. This could not be happening! She listened to her husband a bit, remembering the day they were married. It had been after she had rescued Toby. She realized how boring real life was, so she had returned to the king, asking for her dreams. She didn't regret being his lover, but being his wife was just too hard! Jareth droned on and on about how he was doing this because he loved her. Sarah wasn't listening anymore. Anger boiled within her. She hadn't felt anger this intense in her life. Jareth thought she was a fool, a simple minded woman who blubbered like a baby in public. The saddest thing about the situation was that she knew it was true.


End file.
